The molecule shishijimicin A, discovered more than a decade ago in a marine animal known as a sea squirt and found to be highly toxic to cancer cells, has been synthesized by the Rice University laboratory of chemist K.C. Nicolaou.

Timothy Morton holds the Rita Shea Guffey Chair in English at Rice, where he also is the director of English undergraduate studies. Since coming to Rice in 2012, Morton has been building programs in ecological theory, energy and sustainability. He is the author of many books, including “Hyperobjects: Philosophy and Ecology After the End of the World” (2013) and blogs daily at www.ecologywithoutnature.blogspot.com.

President David Leebron and senior administrators dished up cool treats so that Rice employees could create their own sundaes with toppings provided at the annual Ice Cream Social hosted by the Staff Advisory Committee July 16.

For the past six years in July, Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business has turned into a two-week hub for talented leaders in public K-12 schools who are eager to learn about applying management and leadership concepts to their organizations. New this year, the Rice University Education Entrepreneurship Program invited a group of district central-office teams from the Houston area for the inaugural, one-day Senior Leader Summer Institute.